Collars, Harnesses, & Their Downsides

We'll start with the standard Flat Collars. Most dog owners leave these on their dogs 24/7. They are meant to restrain your dog from running around loose when you take them outside on lead. 

One of the problems with a flat collar being left on your dog like this is they can cause friction matting under the collar. They can also cause the coat to break off under the collar. This applies to all coat lengths and types.

Additionally, if your dog attempts to get under a piece of furniture or they get into a bush while out in the yard unattended, they can also become caught up and unable to free themselves. Best case scenario, you are nearby to help them get free. Worse case scenario you are not nearby to help them and the struggle they go through to get themselves free injures your dog. 

In the case of the Quick Release collars, the added problem comes when that Quick Release wears and breaks, or your dog figures out how to pull and move against it just the right way to get that clip to release. If that happens while you are walking your dog, you now have a free running dog that you need to quickly get a hold of. 

The owner of Pooch Pawlor, Beth Erisman-Thomas, has personal experiences with these issues. Her mother's German Shepherd became tangled in a bush while in the back yard by herself. The dog managed to chew through the leather flat buckle collar to free herself. Another time, this same dog became stuck in its crate while home alone when the tags hanging from her new leather collar became caught in the cage. Again, the dog was able to chew through the collar to free itself. On another occasion, Beth's Labrador Retriever was wearing a Quick Release collar and the clip popped open. Thinking this was just from the clip not being fastened securely, the collar was put back on to the dog. Later, the dog pulled at just the right angle and popped the clip open again. Once she proved she could do this whenever she wanted to, Beth stopped using Quick Release collars on the Lab.

Luckily, in both of these instances, the dogs were unharmed. However, these were valuable lessons on not leaving collars on unattended dogs, even short haired dogs. The other lesson learned was in using the right type of collar for the situation at the time.